Re: I have a small metal key
Keys, as an access mechanism, have sufficed for thousands of years.
However, they require physical conferral of the device in question, which is a security risk. Note the numerous mentions of house guests, parcel deliveries etc.
It's useful to have a way to allow a random person in, on your authorisation. You can tell someone a PIN over the phone, you can't give someone a key.
And 3D-printing may well make keys dangerous. A quick photo or even video of your average key, let alone a few seconds of physical access, will give you enough information to make a viable copy, and lock-bumping basically makes 90% of the locks out there key-less with about an hour's practice on a box of old locks. There's also a reason you should change your locks after you've misplaced a key, whether it's returned to you or not.
I'd rather have electronic access. But this is too much. And, yes, at least one of my doors would be accessible by an old fashioned unpowered lock, in the case of an emergency. Though I'd make it the one that requires the greatest faffing to get to, i.e. jumping the fence etc.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
